WRC-
Argentina Rally: Final Day
CORDOBA, Argentina (AFP) - World champion
Sebastien Loeb won his fourth successive Rally of Argentina on Sunday but admitted that the South American rain, fog and mud had transformed the race into the toughest he had ever faced.
The French Citroen driver, who also won the previous round in Mexico, finished 2min 33sec ahead of Australia's Chris Atkinson, in a Subaru Impreza, with Spain's Dani Sordo, in another Citroen, taking third place, 4min 4sec off the lead.
It was Loeb's 39th career victory in the world championship, another record for a man who has won the last four world titles.
He also took over the lead of the championship from Ford Focus driver Mikko Hirvonen who was fifth here after never recovering from mechanical problems on the opening day.
"I like difficult conditions but I thought today's were the hardest I've ever faced," said Loeb who vented his anger over the weekend at the rule which demands drivers to use hard compound tyres despite the torrential rain and cloying mud.
"The conditions were extremely bad today, but throughout the event we've had some extremely tricky weather too. It seems to have been raining all the time and with the fog and the mud on the road it was very difficult.
"We had a good fight on the first day," added the Frenchman.
"But after that we were in the lead and had to get to the finish - but with the hard compound tyres that was a very tough job.
"In some places it was very hard to keep the car on the road at all. Yes, we see fog, rain and mud on other rallies, but up to now we've always been able to choose an appropriate tyre for the conditions. I hope we can do something to improve the limited options we have now."
The 2003 world champion Petter Solberg, who had been in second place overnight, saw his hopes of a podium finish dashed halfway though Sunday's opening stage when electrical failure brought his Subaru Impreza to a halt.
Solberg had started the final day 48sec ahead of Subaru teammate Atkinson.
Solberg and Atkinson had been on course to record Subaru's first double podium since the Rally of Great Britain in 2003.
Atkinson said that while he was happy to be up to second overall, his team-mate's retirement was a blow for the Subaru camp.
"Personally speaking, a possible three podiums from four rallies feels great, but of course we were hoping for a double celebration at Subaru," said the Australian.
"Petter's retirement is a big disappointment for the whole team."
